Welcome to “On the
Horizon”
Issue 72: SUCCESS Builds Confidence!
On the Horizon is an
award winning weekly ezine for parents of children with developmental
disabilities who want simple, effective strategies to reduce stress,
support their child’s development, and improve quality of life for the
whole family.
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Prep for Back to School
 A Note from Nicole: Welcome New Subsribers; New Website
Idea of the Week: Put the Groceries Away
Feature Article: SUCCESS Builds Confidence!
The Horizons Team Recommends: The Guardian Angel Bracelet; Horizons Academy
Upcoming Events: Q&A Teleseminar; RDI Parent Teleseminar
 
Hi Everyone!
I want to extend a big warm welcome to the hundreds of new subscribers we have joining us this week from the Autism Society of America conference! Erin and I had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful parents and professionals at the conference in Chicago two weeks ago, and it thrills us to welcome you all to our Horizons community. We look forward to sharing information with you each week!
This week’s feature article is all about promoting success and competence in children. This is such an important topic as we strive to help encourage our children, students, and clients to achieve their highest potential. When we don’t experience enough success in our lives we begin to feel badly about ourselves and focus on our failures. In the article, Michelle shares some important tips for guiding your child to experience success throughout the day.
I’m off to continue putting the finishing touches on a great new website we will be launching for everyone in a few weeks. I’ll keep you in suspense at this point, but I will tell you that the people in our test group are raving about it. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Have an wonderful week!
Looking to the horizon,
Put the Groceries Away
When the groceries arrive home from the store mom or dad could always use some extra help to put them away. Start by helping carry the bags in the house from the car – which ones are too heavy for you and which ones are just right? There are other opportunities in figuring out where things belong – in the refrigerator or in the cupboard? Does the fruit need to set out on the counter or be chilled? What gets frozen and what doesn’t? What shelf in the cupboard does something belong on? There are many opportunities for thinking and taking responsibility, as well as working together.
 
SUCCESS Builds Confidence!
By: Michelle VanderHeide, BSW
Living in our dynamic, fast changing world can be extremely stressful — even for those who are processing information at a normal rate. Imagine moving to another country where you know only a limited amount of the language that the nationals speak. It could be overwhelming! Now imagine trying to keep up the same lifestyle you now have in that country. Without the support of a trusted guide, we’d all fail! What a different experience that would be if you were given more guidance, such as learning about the culture and foundational words in their language before you go; or going with somebody that is familiar with that country!
As a parent, being the guide to your children is an extremely important role; and when you have a child with autism, the stress of this job is amplified all the more. The pace of our world is very fast, and much too fast for a child with autism to process all that is necessary to function successfully. Below is the acronym SUCCESS, which offers 7 simple things you can do to begin a successful guided relationship with your child.
Support: Give as much support as your child needs in order to be successful. If it means holding his/her hand to walk a spoon from the table to the sink to make sure that s/he is able to do this, then do it! Another way to show support is to demonstrate what you want done so s/he’s not trying to guess what it is you want him/her to do.
Guardian Angel Bracelet
www.GuardianAngelBracelet.com
When Kimberly Martinez lost her four-year old son at the beach, she had a terrifying experience that nearly 90 percent of families face at least once in their child’s lifetime. Fortunately, her son was able to tell another mom that he was lost and give her his home phone number. Through this ordeal she was inspired to create a safety bracelet on which contact information could be stored in order to help lost children be reunited with their families quickly and efficiently. Families now have that little bit of that extra safety and ease of mind when they use the Guardian Angel Bracelet on their child.
The Guardian Angel Bracelet is a secure lock bracelet that can be easily adjusted to fit children of all ages. The bracelet includes a space for parents or caregivers to write the cell phone number of the child’s caregiver. It is waterproof and ideal for use at beaches, water parks, amusement parks, school field trips, family vacations and other outings.
Horizons
Academy
Many parents express concerns about educational options
available to their children with impairments. It seems there are few
ideal educational settings, and even fewer that take a
developmental approach to working on the core deficits of
student difficulties.
Our instructional program, available for children
ages 3 and older, is individualized to meet the
unique and specific needs of each student. Parents and
the instructional team work together to determine priority goal areas,
which often include communication, problem solving / flexible thinking,
socialization, sensory-motor development, academic skills, and
self-care skills.
A certified Special Education teacher / CORE Approach Program
Certified Consultant oversees the program. This program runs from
September through June and is limited to a small number of students
each year.
Schedule a Free Consultation:
To learn more about our Instructional Program, call us for more information at (616) 698-0306.
Please join us!
- Sibshop
– Horizons Sibling Network
Open to everyone!
Saturday, August 15, 2009, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST
- CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar:
Q&A with Michelle & Courtney (Horizons
Families Only)
Monday, Sept. 14 from 1:30-2:30pm EST
- CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar: Pediatric Vision Specialist Guest Speaker Dr. Jeff Kenyon (Horizons Families Only) Thursday, Sept. 17 from 11-12pm EST
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